State unemployment drops to 9 percent

California’s unemployment rate decreased to 9.0 percent in April, and nonfarm payroll jobs increased by 10,400 during the month for a total gain of 756,900 jobs since the recovery began in February 2010, according to data released today by the California Employment Development Department (EDD) from two separate surveys.

The U.S. unemployment rate also decreased in April to 7.5 percent.

In March, the state’s unemployment rate was 9.4 percent, and in April 2012, the unemployment rate was 10.7 percent. The unemployment rate is derived from a federal survey of 5,500 California households.

Nonfarm jobs in California totaled 14,602,200 in April, an increase of 10,400 jobs over the month, according to a survey of businesses that is larger and less variable statistically. The survey of 42,000 California businesses measures jobs in the economy. The year-over-year change (April 2012 to April 2013) shows an increase of 273,100 jobs (up 1.9 percent).